Sky Ship Read online

  Republic of Irajh

  The air-conditioner hummed loud as it tried to overcome the heat that seeped into the rooms of the white building. Barbed wire surrounded the building and armed guards with dogs patrolled it day and night. Colonel Aziz sat and looked through a stack of passports. The photos in each one showed a trim athletic man with the seal of Saudi Arabia on the cover. He put them in a plastic bag, then into a brown military knapsack. He turned to an aide and said, “This part is finished. Have the countries we are to visit been contacted?”

  Salah Habru, a short, thin man with very thick eyeglasses shook his head vigorously. “Yes Colonel. I took care of it myself. They expect the soccer team to play in the tournaments. They look forward to it, because, as one of our informants told me, they want to whip us badly on the field.”

  Aziz laughed. “If my ‘team’ were to play them the way we trained, I pity them.” Both men laughed.

  The little man turned serious as he said, “Colonel, is there no way that I might accompany you on this, this, ah, tour?”

  Aziz smiled and slapped his back. “Salah, we will be very active as soon as we spring it on them.” He shook his head, “No, my friend, I’m afraid you would better serve Irajh right here in this office. Besides, when we return victoriously, you will receive a medal for all of your tireless work. I, personally, will see to that my friend.” Aziz looked at his wristwatch and said, “I must go now. The men are exercising on the soccer field at this very moment, and I feel the need of some exercise myself.” He hefted the knapsack over his shoulder and went out into the white-hot sun. Aziz hopped into his jeep-type vehicle and sped out in a cloud of sand.

  Five minutes later he was at the soccer field, still inside the large compound. The men were in shorts, sneakers and white Tee shirts. They were all very tan and very much in shape. He trotted out to the field and they stopped and came to attention. “At ease men,” he shouted, “please continue.” He spotted Hadi Bakr and waved him over. Hadi snapped to attention as he stopped in front of Aziz.

  “Come Hadi, do a few laps with me as I tell you the next step in our preparation. The started to trot, Aziz had the knapsack on his back. “I have the passports for the men in my knapsack. I wish for you to lock it in the main safe until we are ready to ship out. Meanwhile, set up a meeting with the men for this evening. I will show you all the video we have obtained of the Sky Ship. It’s very informative.”

  Hadi ran next to his commander and was determined not to fall behind. He made sure that he didn’t get ahead too. “Colonel, will you be at the clothing fitting? It’s in one hour at the wardrobe.”

  Aziz looked at his watch and answered, “Yes! I want to be intimate with every aspect of the mission. I will be there. You may go back to the men while I do some more laps.” He looked straight ahead as Hadi broke away, still at the same fast clip they were doing.

  One hour later the men were supplied western clothing and being fitted. They were complete opposites of what the clothing represented. Most men that dressed in the casual type clothing they just received would be smiling and at ease with life as it were. Aziz’s men, however, were grim-faced as they put the clothing on. Most had worn nothing but desert garb until they were in the military, and then dressed in khakis and combat fatigues.

  The colonel and Hadi walked among them, occasionally removing or adding a piece of clothing as they saw fit. After they were all fitted out, Hadi marched them to a gym set up with a table covered with a white sheet of linen. A screen was set up and as the men took seats that faced it, Hadi waved to a man who put the lights off. Colonel Aziz threw the switch and the projector came to life.

  On the screen were the words; The Macfarlane Corporation brings the latest in travel to the world: the airship, Sky Ship! There was more copy, but he skipped past it until the screen was filled with a large image of Sky Ship.

  “Sky Ship!” he said in the dark room. “The vehicle which we will use to bring Irajh into its rightful place in the world.” He let the words sink in for a moment then continued. “Tonight, comrades, I will take you through the plan I have devised to make this happen; where you all fit in individually, and exactly where you will be every minute while aboard.”

  The film showed the massive craft as it was being built, in a time-lapse fashion, from the nose to the tail, hull to topside, the gasbags and the intricate webbing of girders and guy wires. When the film was done the colonel gathered them around the table. He removed the linen and there was a six-foot long, plastic cut-away model of the ship.

  The men talked into the early hours of the morning, going over the plans and where they would all be at any particular time. It was after three in the morning when Colonel Aziz said, as he watched them, “Hadi. We have an eight thirty meeting tomorrow morning with Major Hamod. I will go to my room; I have some reading to do. See that the men all understand their part in this great mission.” He turned and left.

  Back at his room, he opened his computer and brought up the dossiers of all the pertinent people attached to Sky Ship. First, start at the top, he thought as he typed in, Captain Hugo Eckener. Aziz sat back as the picture of a man came up. Tonight, he thought, we shall become acquainted with the crewmembers of the airship and their weaknesses.

  After breakfast Colonel Aziz and Hadi met with Major Hamod.

  Hamod was a tall, striking figure with his right arm missing. The story was that, as he placed a bomb in the automobile of a man, which his country had to remove, it went off prematurely. As the man came out to investigate the explosion, Hamod strangled him with his good hand. He always had a feel for computers and was rewarded with running his country’s computer spyware program. He was given a top-secret assignment a year ago and today he was to show his results to the man chosen for the mission.

  He slammed his fist on the desktop as he thought, This mission would have been mine if not for this damned wax arm. Every morning he cursed his luck as he attached it to the stump he had left. An aide tapped on his door,

  “Major, Colonel Aziz and his aide are here.”

  Hamod booted up his computer, and said, “Show them in.” He called up the program he had built for this mission.

  Aziz and Hadi entered. “Ah, Rashud my friend, how are you?” The colonel hugged and kissed him on both cheeks, then turned to Hadi. “Major Hamod, Lieutenant Bakr, my aide.”

  Hadi did a small bow as the Major tipped his head slightly.

  “Now Rashud,” said Aziz, “what is it that you have for us?”

  Hamod sat at the computer on his desk. “Only the closest thing to actually being inside the airship, Colonel. I will take you on a virtual tour of the target starting with the entrance into the gondola and walking through the interior. I will take you into the engine room; the storage area and you will walk the four walkways. When we are done, you will be as familiar with the target as though you were part of the team that built her.” He looked at Aziz, shrugged his shoulders and said in an admiring tone, “I have lived with this airship for almost one year now, and feel a closeness with her. It is almost too bad that we have to do what we must do.” He then smiled as he lightly scratched his missing arm, “But one must do what their country asks of them. Eh, colonel?”

  Aziz nodded as an answer but thought, And therein lays your problem Major. You always did get to close to your targets.

  Hadi took a step forward and asked, “Major, when do you think I can bring in our pilot? He must see beforehand what he will be asked to fly.”

  The major got up from his seat and said, “This afternoon I will be ready for him. And with the program I have built, he will feel at home once he is aboard the target.”

  Colonel Aziz slapped his hands together, “Good! Good! Well done major, well done.”

  Caiten Court, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

  Jennifer McKee walked easily from the stove carrying two bowls of hot cereal and a mug of coffee. On the way to the kitchen table, she elbowed a cabinet door closed. Her five-foot eight-inch frame was
as trim as when she played tournament volleyball and she used all the dexterity the game taught her as she navigated the small kitchen around stools, chairs and all the things a small house seems to acquire in one room.

  She placed the bowl of cereal down in front of her ten-year old daughter who looked as though she was still asleep. “Annie, please start on that right away or we’ll be late for school.” A dark haired girl with a dimple in her left cheek came to life as she picked up a spoon and attacked her breakfast.

  Jennifer put the other bowl down in front of Penelope, her nine-year old who was watching the television on the counter. Jennifer pushed her blond hair back from her eyes. She had the same color hair as her father while Jennifer and Annie had the dark hair in the family. The little girl looked at the bowl and made a face, “Aww, Mom, do I have to?”

  Jennifer scowled and answered, “How many times have I told you Penelope, breakfast is the most important meal of the day . . . Now, eat up and don’t spill any on your blouse.”

  The kitchen door opened and a breathless Marie Dobbs quickly entered. She pushed her long gray and brown streaked hair out of her eyes. “Sorry sis, I got caught in that stupid traffic jam I warned you about down by Danny’s drugstore. Guess the city started to dig up the street earlier than I thought. Are the girls ready to go?”

  “It’s okay Marie, they still have five minutes, catch your breath. Coffee?”

  “No thanks,” she said as she kissed the girls, “I’m cutting back. You guys all set for your trip?”

  “Just about.” Jennifer said as she tied Penelope’s hair back.

  Heavy footfalls sounded on the stairs from the upstairs bedroom and Annie and Penelope both jumped up and ran to the doorway and in unison shouted, “Daddy, it’s daddy.”

  “Mornin’ ladies,” said their father as he suddenly appeared and scooped both up at the same time. Dan McKee easily carried them both back to their seats. At forty-one, he kept in shape and used the small gym he built in the basement daily. “Have my ladies finished eating yet?”

  “Yes daddy,” said Annie as she smiled broadly. Want to see my empty bowl?”

  Dan nodded his head as he made a mock inspection of her bowl. “Mmmm, very good Annie. Now I better check your sisters.” He took the long way around the table as he eyed his youngest daughter as she scooped up her cereal, and got to her just as she finished. His timing was, as usual, perfect. Her eyes beamed as her father inspected her empty bowl.

  “Very good Penelope, you know what your mother always says, “Breakfast . . . “

  Both girls chimed in and together finished his sentence, “. . . is the most important meal of the day.”

  Dan smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he turned to his wife, “Don’t know what the problem is hon, the girls just can’t seem to down their breakfast fast enough.” Jennifer rolled her eyes as he pecked her cheek with a mischievous grin. “Morning Marie,” he continued as he pecked his sister-in-law on her cheek, “you set to handle these two trouble makers for the weekend?”

  “No problem Danny boy. You just take care of my baby sister and make sure she has a good time.” She patted his chest and a furrow appeared on her face. “You have your revolver on you. Why?”

  Dan smiled and answered, “That’s what security guys do Marie, protect the company assets.”

  “Those things scare me, that’s all. I thought that when you left the Police . . .”

  Jennifer interrupted, pointing to the mug on the table, “Coffee’s hot Dan.”

  He gave her a slight wink and grabbed the mug and looked at the girls. “You guys are gonna be good for Aunt Marie this weekend, aren’t you?”

  Annie answered in the manner she thought would make her father proud of her, “Yes daddy, and I promise to eat all my meals.”

  Dan looked at his youngest and she said, “Daddy, would you bring me back something from South America?”

  “Sure, honey, what would you like?

  She looked up at the ceiling and played with her chin. “Uhh… I want something creepy-crawly – a lizard!”

  Jennifer quickly stepped in here before Dan got in over his head. “No! We are not bringing you back a lizard. Remember the hamster? I spent a week afraid to put my foot down on the floor.”

  Marie and Dan shared a look of amusement over Jennifer’s anxiety as she continued, “Well, maybe a stuffed lizard… Marie, did I give you the number for-“

  “For the Flight Center?” Marie said with a smile on her face, “you gave it to me four times, Jen.”

  Jenn nodded and continued, “And you know you can call us if-“

  Marie shrugged her shoulders and went on, “If there’s any problem whatsoever . . . I know.”

  Dan laughed out loud. “Actually, ladies, there is no cell phone service available on the ship.”

  “No cell phone service?” said Jenn with raised eyebrows, “But what if Marie . . . “

  Marie shook her head, “Don’t worry, Jenn, I’ll make sure we’re all safe. You go and enjoy yourself.” She looked at Dan and went on, “Dan, how come there’s no cell phone service? I mean the airlines have it so why doesn’t the Sky Ship have it?”

  With a shrug he answered, “Not sure of the particulars but I believe it’s because she is made of certain composites that are mixed with molecular particles of steel plus the Kevlar.”

  “But, what if the pilot wants to talk to someone in the back? What does he do, send a messenger?”

  “Naw! They use the ship’s internal communications and there are a few hand held walkie-talkies that the mechanics use and they are ultra low frequency so even they can only operate inside the ship. Nope! What happens aboard the Sky Ship stays aboard the Sky Ship.”

  Jenn shook her head, “But, what if . . . ?”

  “Marie, was she this way growing up?”

  “No. She’s mellowed.”

  Jenn, used to their jibing, continued, “What am I forgetting? Oh, their lunches.” Jennifer went to the refrigerator and took out pre-made lunches as Dan’s sipped coffee and watched the TV news.

  “In local news, the world’s oil ministers will be holding a policy meeting in Miami tomorrow, at the Hotel Le Grande. This will mark the first time that OPEC has ever convened in the U.S. and the city of Miami will be rolling out the red carpet…”

  Dan checked his wristwatch. “We’d better get a move on.”

  Jenn nodded and turned to her sister. “You’re sure dropping them off is not a problem?

  “Promise. I’ll get them to school and I won’t exceed ninety.”

  Jennifer looked warily at her as she shook her head.

  Mimicking her, Marie shook her head. “It’s a joke. Now go! You’re gonna make Dan late for work.”

  The girls shoved their seats back and stood. Jennifer hugged the kids and her sister. “Marie, you’re an angel I owe you.”

  “Hush up silly kid sister and have a great trip. The kids will be fine… We’re gonna have a lot of fun this weekend, right kids?

  Annie gave an enthusiastic, “Yeah!”

  Penelope turned to her aunt and asked, “Are we gonna have another ice cream party aunt Marie?”

  “Yep! Promise.”

  Jennifer shook her head and hugged her sister again. “We’ll see you in three days.” She suddenly felt her ear and exclaimed, “Oh no, I forgot to put my earrings on. Dan gave them to me for our fifth anniversary. I’ll just be a sec.”

  Dan looked at his watch, “Hon, it’s getting late and you look perfect.”

  “Here,” said Marie as she removed hers,” These are brand new and you’ll look great in them.” As Jennifer was about to protest, she put a hand up against her sister’s lips, “Hush, take them and put them on in the car. Now go.”

  Jennifer smiled and kissed Marie again.

  Dan squatted down to his daughter’s level and said, “You guys have a great weekend. We’ll be back before you know it and be nice to aunt Marie.” He grabbed his and Jennifer’s bags and ushered her towar
d the door.

  Compton Waterway, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

  Out in the Florida Keys, there was hardly any breeze as two men in camouflage hunting outfits rowed a rubber boat up against the tall reeds of a small island. They didn’t say a word in case there were hunters on the island that might detect their middle-eastern accent. Together, the blond haired Ahmid and Quami wrestled three packages ashore and quickly placed them near a slight rise in the marshy island. Ahmid paced off twenty feet then said, “Here.” As he stooped and started to dig into the soft wet earth, and retrieved three more packages all wrapped in rubber. Wordlessly they assembled the contents of the three packages and in less than an hour it was ready. A small ultra-light aircraft that resembled a motorcycle’s sidecar with wings. Ahmid sat in the aircraft and Quami passed him a backpack with a length of rope attached. The pilot tied it to the ultra light and they sat and waited as the sun rose higher in the sky.

  Clayton Road, Miami, Florida, U.S.A.

  The green 2005 Ford sedan went down the highway under the speed limit. Dan patted his pocket then fumbled around on the center console as the sun drenched him and Jennifer.

  “Can’t find your sunglasses, hon?”

  “Damn,” Dan answered as he felt around the floor, “Eighty-five dollar Ray Bans.”

  Jennifer felt around her side and came up with a pair of kids’ sunglasses – yellow with little dancing bears and put them on him.

  He grinned as she laughed. “Boy Jenn, I better watch my speed. Don’t want to get pulled over by one of these Highway guys. I can hear it now, he mimics a policeman speaking to him, ‘So Mr. McKee, let me get this straight. You are an ex-New York City policeman working for MacFarlane Corporation as a security man and you drive around disguised as a child?’ “

  They laugh hysterically as they approach an airfield. A small plane buzzed overhead.

  “Hey hon,” Dan said as he pointed excitedly, there's the plane I'm learning on, a Cessna.”